A Fierce Dragon's Delicate Flower
by Sabby-Sama
Summary: A collection of Haku/Chihiro fluff! Open to prompt suggestions :
1. Chapter 1

Rare

The majestic dragon landed on the grassy plain with a huff exiting it's flaring nostrils. Chihiro giggled and hugged the creature around its neck, burying her face in it's strangely soft scales. With a final stroke, she jumped off it and sat on the grass cross-legged, as she watched Haku revert to his human form.

Lying on the grass, Haku closed his forest green eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to calm his racing heart from the exertion of flying. Chihiro practically begged at his feet to fly 'super duper fast' through the clouds.

That was over an hour ago.

What the young girl didn't understand was that his energy was limited. He wasn't an all-powerful being like Yubaba, afterall. Even if he used to be the spirit of the Kohaku River. Chihiro watched him struggling to cath his breath, sweat matting the bangs sharply framing his face.

"I'm not _that_ heavy, am I?" she asked, slightly insulted. Haku shook his head and sat up onto his knees.

"Of course not." he calmly reassured her. Chihiro watched him suspiciously then turned her face away with an offended sniff, ponytail whipping along behind her and arms crossed.

Her face relaxed when she came to face the field of flower bushes in the distance. She remembered the first time she went to visit her parents at the barn in their hog form. When she eagerly ran through the maze she dully took notice of the beautiful, amazingly other-worldly flowers growing in the perfectly snipped hedges.

Just as Haku was about to rest a hand on her shoulder in hopes of calming down any anger brewing inside of her, Chihiro spoke.

"Hey, Haku." she said thoughtfully as she gazed longingly at the well-kept flower maze downhill. He 'hmm'-ed in question. "I want to go in that flower maze." she said. Turning, Haku was consumed by Chihiro's innocently questioning eyes. He never could identify what color they truly were. Depending on the light, they drifted between a pudding brown and a warm, metal grey.

Haku was startled out of his musings when Chihiro snapped her fingers in his face. Oh yeah, the maze. . .

She smiled and tilted her head, her eyes urging him to say yes. Haku inwardly sighed.

"Chihiro. . .it's not really allowed." he said, but immedietly regretted it when Chihiro's face dropped in disappointment.

The smile completely gone from her face only to be replaced with a frown, she questioned him. "But why?"

Because I can get into some serious trouble with Yubaba, Haku thought.

"We went through it before. To see my parents." she reminded him. It was okay then and not now? Because from what she remembered, they had to sneak to the barn while praying they wouldn't get caught.

Haku opened his mouth to give a logical answer like an adult that would weasel him out of this, but shut it. Chihiro really wanted to go. . .

And it's not like he'll be flying her around this time. Sighing and shutting his eyes, he nodded his head. Giving in, Haku replied in defeat, "Ok, Chihiro. But just this once-"

He was cut off when Chihiro lunged herself at him and began to suffocate him in a bone crushing hug. "Thank you thank you thank you, Haku!" she chanted giddily. When she pulled away, Haku felt his heart jump in his chest from eratically skipping a beat as he gazed into shining brown eyes that faded into grey around the pupil.

Chihiro grabbed his hands and pulled him up to his feet. Linking her arm around his unwilling one, she smiled that heart melting smile and began to run down the hill uneasily as she stumbled here and there.

The light breeze blew her giggles behind her and at Haku, who was startled at being dragged along, his legs uncomfortably following the demanding girl.

"Chihiro, slow down!" he yelled warningly. It only influenced her to speed up as she clumsily sped down the steep incline.

Haku tripped as he neared the bottom of the hill, but not before thoughtfully letting go of Chihiro.

Jogging slowly and finally stopping, the girl turned. "Haku?"

At seeing the boy on the ground, she ran to him. "Are you ok? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ran." she quickly gushed as she fretted over the boy sprawled on the ground. He waved her away.

"No, its fine Chihiro." he said, despite a bruise that was quickly forming on his pale knee. He quickly covered it with his hand before Chihiro could see and used magic to discreetly heal the sore spot.

Standing, he walked over to the flower maze. Chihiro stopped her worried babbling. "You wanted to go into the maze, didn't you?" Haku asked.

Slowly, Chihiro nodded.

"Then lets go." Haku instructed with a slight smirk at the flustered girl. She obediently followed after him, carefully scrutinizing his stride for any limping or stalling. Haku was fine.

"We need to be quick, alright?" Haku spoke softly as he looked around the area for any of Yubaba's other henchmen.

Chihiro smiled and dashed into the entrance. She immedietly stopped in her tracks as she gazed around at the spectacle of nature, actually seeing instead of plainly looking like before.

The hedges were skyscrapers compared to her short ten year-old body. It was half the size of Haku in his dragon form. Golden rays of sunlight were filtered through the branches and leaves, creating an eerie, yet peaceful green lighting in the circular space that contributed to the soothing feeling the area was giving off.

The air was slightly cool under the canopy of earthly dimness. Chihiro passed her hand through a single thread of light that stubbornly made it through a hedge and was currently decorating the ground with golden flecks. The warmth was such an odd contrast to the refreshing coolness now coating her skin.

Was that a fountain? Chihiro dashed to it and raised herself to her tiptoes, looking over the high edge and into the large granite basin filled with the clearest water that matched the sky. Little Koi's were swishing about inside. She let her arms dangle into the coldness as she closed her eyes, just listening to the rush of water escaping through the top of the fountain and streaming down the different shaped bowls.

Haku went up beside her and rested his elbows on the edge as he took in her relaxed face.

Butterflies with wings like a spectrum fluttered and twirled behind him in an elaborant ballroom dance.

"Pretty, isn't it?" he asked in his mellow voice.

"It's more than pretty." Chihiro spoke in soft awe. How hadn't she noticed the beauty of this place the first time around?

Opening her eyes, she saw Haku's slightly amused face infront of her. He looked so. . ._unreal._ The way his eyes and hair blended into the backdrop of lush greenery and his face absorbed the blue-ish light the water gave off. It was like he was one with nature.

"There's still more to see." Haku said and turned to venture through one of the maze paths branching out form the circular middle.

In a way, Chihiro didn't want to follow him. She wanted to stay here forever. But at the same time, she wanted to see the rest of the magnificent maze.

Making various twists and turns through the emerald corridor, Chihiro awe-ed and ooh-ed at almost everything. There weren't flowers like this where she was from.

She stopped at a particular flower and carefully traced it's petals with her finger. It looked so delicate.

Not hearing the loud, sloppy foot-falls of the girl behind him, Haku turned around.

"Do you know what this flowers called?" she asked when she felt his eyes on her. Haku shook his head and examined the flower with gentle finesse.

"I'm not sure. . ." Haku muttered softly. And that was saying something. He knew all the different types of flowers in this area.

The flower was a soft yellow, with creamy white shying at the tips of its semi-rounded petals. It was like a mixture of a lily and a rose, only it's beauty was magnified ten-fold.

"How about we name it?" he suggested. Chihiro thought so hard about a name, that Haku could practically smell the smoke shooting out of her ears.

Suddenly, he thought of one. It was nothing fancy, or even original. But it was the same name of the girl who discovered it. "Chihiro." he said finally.

"What?" the girl asked. Haku shook his head. "The flower. We'll call it a Chihiro."

It was fitting, after all. The appearance of the never before-seen flower matched the girls personality perfectly.

They were both a rare find.

* * *

><p>My first Spirited Away fic; Hurray! I've loved this movie ever since I was young and I just recently got the DVD after not watching it in so many years. Nostalgia smashed my face in like a brick, I tell ya. Anyways, I plan on myaking this a collection of HakuChihiro fluff! As soon as I get some reviews I'll update the next chapter of adorableness :3

'Till next time!

~Sabby-Sama


	2. Chapter 2

Agony

Chihiro was animatedly chattering with Kamaji until the little wooden door slid open and Haku emerged from the passage way.

"Rin needs you for something, Chihiro." Haku announced as he straightened himself and carefully stepped out of the way of the soot spirits at work. Chihiro stopped talking to the spider-like man.

She let her head fall back and her shoulders slump in exaggeration. She groaned at the ceiling "Do I HAVE to? I was telling Kamaji about-"

"She said it was important." Haku said quickly. Chihiro sighed and rolled her eyes. Jumping down from sitting on the ledge next to the man responsible for heating the bath house's water, she waved Kamaji.

"See ya later, Kamaji!" she shouted over her shoulder as she began to replace her socks and sneakers onto her feet. The man nodded.

"Goodbye, Chihiro." he said and immedietly began commanding his little workers while he ground spices.

After crawling through the little space, Chihiro huffed in annoyance. "That was so rude, Haku!" she scolded the green haired boy while pointing a finger in his face.

He raised an eyebrow at how ironic the gesture was. When Chihiro lowered her accusing finger, she began to fix up her ponytail. "What does Rin want, anyways?"

"Nothing." Haku said simply. She dropped her hands from her head, her shoulder length hair swaying past her shoulders. Haku gazed at the perfectly shiny strands that reminded him of sweet chocolate.

"Wh-what?" Chihiro asked in disbelief. "Haku, I was busy talking with Kamaji!"

The corner of Haku's lip twitched in an attempt of a smirk at how whiny Chihiro was being. She'll thank him later, though. He tried keeping his face neutural, not wanting to give away his surprise.

Chihiro continued on her little rant about rudeness, and how mean he was. Getting impatient, Haku grabbed her hand and began to run through the confusing twists and turns of the bath house while dodging spirits of various shapes and sizes. It was like the first time Haku met her.

Amazingly, Chihiro kept on scolding him and was now shouting out her lecture. Odd looks very thrown at the two as they dashed passed.

Eventually, Haku zoomed out the entrance of the colorful temple designed bath house and passed over the bridge, a quiet and exhausted Chihiro now in tow.

Finally coming to a large grassy plain a distance away from the large building, Haku let go of Chihiro's perfectly petite hand.

"Haku, why am I here?" she asked as she crossed her arms, foot tapping on the grass. He answered her by transforming.

Chihiro stared at the dragon who was face-to-face with her, completely bored. "What." she said in a flat tone.

Haku huffed, the air blowing out of his nostril's smacking Chihiro in the face. Chihiro freaked out. "Eww!" she shrieked as she frantically whipped her face as she did a little grossed out dance.

"You dragged me out here just to sneeze on me?" she shouted, thoroughly aggitated. Haku growled and whipped his tail upwards and curled it, so it was pointing to his back.

"Oh, so _now_ i'm not a fat cow?" Chihiro asked sarcastically. Why would Haku randomley tell her to hop on his back to fly her around?

Haku swished his tail around violently and made a deep rumbling sound in the back of his throat.

"Fine, fine whatever." she responded to his persistance. Jumping on, she wrapped her legs around him and hung onto his head. With a single graceful leap, Haku was in the air.

Chihiro looked around her in complete confusion. Why was Haku doing this? This was just a complete waste of time.

Leaning forward, Chihiro was practically lying on her stomach as she continued to grip onto Haku. She turned her face to the side and layed it on the back of the dragon's soft-scaled head. Sleep started to tug annoyingly on her mind, the warmth from the sun making her drowsy.

But she had to stay awake to hang on. If she didn't the wind will sweep her off Haku's back, only to plummet to the ground bellow. She struggled to stay awake, focusing on how the sea-green of his mane tickled her nose.

All of that was in vain, however, as she subtly felt the dragon land somewhere in her inbetween state of sleep and conciousness.

There was movement from underneath her, and then she felt cloth. Nudging brought her out of her sleep.

"Hey, Chihiro." someone murmured.

Mumbling, Chihiro opened her eyes and blinked up at Haku, who was kneeling beside her. "Ten minutes in the air and you already fall asleep?" he asked, amused. She pushed herself up with a yawn as she stretched. When she brought her arms back down, she felt the cloth underneath her.

Red and white plaid. "Haku?" Chihiro questioned. She groggily rubbed her eyes and clearly saw her surroundings for the first time.

A blue sky. Red tile. A blanket and a. . .basket?

"What's going on? Where are we?" Chihiro asked, completely confused and a bit worried.

Haku stood and gestured with his arm at everything in front of them. "The roof of the bath house."

Blinking rapidly, Chihiro stood up and went over to the edge. Haku was right behind her, his hands cautiously hovering over her in case she slipped.

When she looked over the edge, the girl immediately became woozy.

The roof. . .of the bath house. She was like a hundred million feet in the air! A light breeze shoved her back.

Once her stomach settled it's nauseating jumping jacks, she croaked out, "Why?"

"A picnic." He answered with a smile. He grabbed her by the hand and led her to the blanket. She mechanicaly sat down, still stunned at how high up she was.

As Haku was pulling containers and food wrapped in plastic, he noticed Chihiro frozen stiff.

"Chihiro? Are you alright?" a concerned Haku asked. Chihiro's mouth started to move slightly as if her jaw was locked in place. No sound came out.

"Chihiro?" he asked again.

"High up. . .so high up." Chihiro muttered in a daze. Haku leaned over and laid his hand over Chihiro's that was gripping onto the picnic blanket for dear life.

Scrunching his eyebrows together, Haku spoke. "But you always ride on my back without a problem."

"That's different." Chihiro said, seeming to look through Haku's forest eyes. "You won't let me fall. You'll keep me safe."

Smiling softly, Haku gazed at Chihiro intently. "I'll always protect you, don't worry." he patted her hand "It's okay."

The stunned look melted off Chihiro's face as Haku's words registered in her brain. She nodded and looked down at her lap, slightly embarrassed. Haku pushed a plate piled high with her favorite spirit world foods (which mostly consisted of sweets) towards her, aswell as a pair of chopsticks.

It was so relaxing up here, now that Chihiro got past her fear. The air was pleasantly warm, not to mention how perfect fluffy white clouds drifted across the sky, creating a beautiful image worth remembering.

The whole thing was a moment she'll never forget. Everything was just perfect, like the setting of the inside of a snowglobe. If only she could stay up here forever with Haku, just watching the cloud's while their stomache's were full of food.

"Why did you do all of this, Haku?" Chihiro suddenly asked inbetween bites of some type of fish only available in the spirit world. Looking up from his food, Haku politely wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Because I can cook." he said humourously, knowing that's not what she meant.

She laughed. "Are you sure about that? These noodles are a bit dry." she joked while poking a pile of pasta swimming in buttersauce.

He rolled his eyes, a habit that rubbed off on him from Chihiro, while a hint of a grin was on his lips. She laughed.

"But really." Chihiro prompted, her eyes shining.

Might as well try pushing his luck some more at skilfully treading around this topic. "I thought a picnic up on the roof would be fun." he answered.

Chihiro greedily shoved a piece of cake in her mouth. "Since when does Haku, the great spirit of the river, think about having _fun_?" she asked sarcastically around her food. She continued to chew loudly.

What? "I am plenty fun." Haku argued, poutiness tinting his voice.

Snorting, the girl swallowed her dessert. "You don't even laugh, Haku."

Well, that was true. But it's not his fault. "I just don't find anything to laugh at." Haku responded. He didn't find many things funny. Chihiro would laugh at anything, even something completely cruel; like someone slipping and falling on the wet bath house floor.

"Oh really?" Chihiro said. She swiped up an extra chopstick and placed it on her upper lip, pursing it in the process. Now aquiring a chopstick 'stache Chihiro outrageously wiggled her eyebrows. She was determined to get Haku to laugh, no matter how dumb it'll make her look.

Haku remained straight faced.

If anything, he was wondering what type of evil spirit possessed Haku to make her face so peculiar looking.

"Are you alright?" Haku asked in all seriousness. Chihiro went slack in defeat and deeply sighed.

"What'll make you laugh?" she asked. As soon as those words left her mouth, she suddenly got it. Duh, why hadn't she thought of it before? A sneaky Cheshire-like grin formed on her face. This went unnoticed by Haku.

He shrugged. "Well, I don't really kn-" Chihiro suddenly lunged herself across the blanket and onto Haku. His body hit the tile with a thump, getting the wind knocked out of him.

What happened next confused him. Chihiro was punching him oddly in the stomach and clawing at his neck. What freaked him out even more was that an odd sound was coming out of his mouth that he couldn't stop, while tears stung at the corner of his eyes as he rolled around on the roof.

"You're laughing, Haku!" Chihiro giddily shouted as she continued to mercilessly tickle the boy.

"H-Help!" the boy called, only for his plea to go unheard. He continued to laugh until his sides hurt.

This laughter. . . It was complete _torture._

* * *

><p><strong>I had fun with this one<strong>**! :D Leave a review to tell me what you thought of this extra long chapter (or for suggestions on upcoming chapters)!**

**~Sabby-Sama **


	3. Chapter 3

Childish

"Lets play hide and seek!" Chihiro suggested out of the blue once she finished sweeping some stray dust and dirt. She wrapped her hands around the top of the broom's handle and rested her chin on them, fluttering her eyes pleadingly at Haku.

Flicking his dark hair back into position, he stood up from his crouched position, previously wiping down the floorboards.

"Don't you have other duties left to finish?" Haku asked. Work before games, after all. Not that he actually would play some silly game when he should be cleaning. If he did, he'd have to hear it from Rin. And Haku did NOT want to start off his Monday with a nagging and raving Rin constantly on him.

Chihiro began to play with her ponytail nervously. "Well, uh. . .No?" she tried.

"Don't you think hide and seek is childish?" Haku asked, not noticing Chihiro's awful job at fibbing. He fixed his robe and sat down on a nearby step, avoiding a pile of dust that threatened the cleanliness of his white uniform.

"No?" Chihiro said again. "I'm ten." she clarified, as if it wasn't already obvious. It was normal for kids her age to play hide and seek back at home. Was the spirit world really that different? She lifted her broom and pointed it at Haku.

"How old are you anyways, Haku?" Chihiro asked slowly. She always thought he was somewhere near her age, despite how maturely he carried himself around.

He sighed, propping an elbow onto his thigh. He ran a hand through his bristle-straight hair. "Very old."

Chihiro sat on a step a few levels lower than Haku. She turned up towards him and rested her elbows on a step. "How old? Thirteen?" she began to guess.

She began to go on with her list of ages, repeatedly asking Haku is she was getting hot or cold. Every time she was cold, no where near guessing his age.

"How old then?" she asked irritably. She already guessed up to thirty and she STILL wasn't right!

"Probably higher than you can count." he answered. Chihiro pouted, clearly not satisfied with the answer. Haku couldn't possibly be older than Kamaji, either!

Haku shook his head. "I can't really tell you. I don't know exactly, myself."

Her jaw dropped. "You don't know how old you are! Do you know the year you were born in atleast?" Haku just shrugged.

"I used to be the spirit of the Kohaku River. I'm probably centuries ancient." Haku answered thoughtfully. "There's really no point in counting up the years when you're a spirit."

Chihiro squinted questioningly. "Why not?"

Haku looked up at the ceiling supported by sprouting wood beams. "It's only a record of the tragedies you've lived through, and others couldn't. Of all the things I've done. Good, and especially bad."

"Bad?" Chihiro murmured to herself more than to Haku. He nodded. "I used to be violent. A fierce dragon." he chuckled, dry of humour.

Quietly standing up, Chihiro offered her hand out to Haku. He took it and pulled himself up, expecting to finish their chores dumped on them by a moody Yubaba.

She lightly kicked the bucket of suds away from Haku when he attempted to reach for it. "Chihiro-" he started.

"Nope!" She smirked. "Were gonna play hide and seek!" she urged.

Haku began to protest. "Why? We have all this work to d-" he began to reason.

Quickly covering his mouth with her tiny hand, Chihiro explained sincerely, "So you'll know what it's like to be 'childish.'"

Looking into Chihiro's mysteriously colored eyes filled with life and pure good, things his cold eyes will never hold, Haku realized how genuine and thoughtful someone Chihiro's age could be. Whiny, loud and always pouting (not to mention energetic), was how he's always seen her. But now, he saw another side of Chihiro. She was completely self-less and had that vague sense of maturity to her. She could always take a solemn environment and pump happiness into it.

She was actually willing to do something like this for him. And she didn't even know it.

Sheepishly, Haku spoke behind her muffling hand. "How do you play?" Chihiro giggled. This was going to be great!

* * *

><p>Once explaining in great detail to the ancient boy about the complexity of hide and seek and how to play, Chihiro camped out in a spare supply closet in the maid's quarters.<p>

She was crouched in that spot for a reasonable amount of time, yet she was getting antsy. Where was Haku? Did that dummy already forget how to play and didn't come looking for her?

There were sudden shrieks and metal objects clattering to the floorboards in a chorus of what sounded like bullets. Chihiro was terrified. What was going on?

Cautiously opening the door of the closet, she poked her head out, the choas outside hitting her ears full blast. Right around the corner was the bath house. What she saw were workers and various spirits running around frantically, trying to find safety from. . . _something_.

"Rin? Rin!" Chihiro shouted out to the various bodies whizzing past in complete pandemonium. If any one knew what was happening, it would be her. She hit the floor with a loud thump when a plant-like spirit tripped her in an effort of saving itself.

No one replied to the helpless little girl. In fact, no one paid any attention to her lying on the ground. On her hands and knee's, Chihiro quickly crawled away into a corner to avoid getting crushed by the stampede.

"Haku!" Chihiro cried desperately to the boy who was across the large room. He was focused, using some kind of magic against whatever caused this mess. The swarming crowd of spirit world residents evacuating obscured her view.

Pushing herself up from the ground, she lunged into the crowd, getting pulled this way and that. "Haku!" she yelled again. She stopped and held her hand up, waving to get his attention.

Finally, he noticed her. A little too late. The last thing Chihiro's eyes saw was the complete and utter fear on Haku's face. That fear infected Chihiro in a rush that hit her like a bag of steel infused bricks. Haku was _never_ frightened. By _anything._

Anger suddenly took over the boy's face as his eyes darted to Chihiro's left. With a shout of rage that soon contourted into a horrid growl, Haku exploded into white and green scales and fur, carelessly sending everyone around him flying.

At the end of those bizarre ten seconds, something in Chihiro's mind told her to look to her left. A giant glob of muck was quickly advancing on her. Before a shriek could leave her wind pipe, she saw a dragon out of the corner of her eye, and than darkness.

* * *

><p>Even though her eyes were still shut, she could tell the world was shaking viciously. There was something sticky and slimy covering her from head to toe, and it <em>stunk.<em>

"Chihiro. . .please!" someone was begging in a broken voice. She couldn't recognize who it was, but her brain said she did.

She squirmed uncomfortably, the horrible stench combined with the merry-go-round motion making her feel sick.

The person gasped and kept urging her to open her eyes. Chihiro's eyes finally fluttered open, expecting to be greeted with a harsh light instead of a face.

"Haku?" she mumbled foggily. What happened? She lifted a hand up to her face to see some sort of disgusting jelly-like substance coating it.

His face was over hers, upside down and was mostly occupied by his wide eyes. He stopped shaking her and grabbed her arm daintilly, scooting over to kneel by her side, bringing her arm back down. "Relax. I did a bit of healing, but i'm not sure if it'll work on the type of wounds you got." he whispered. Was she going crazy, or did it sound like Haku had been crying?

"What happened?" Chihiro asked, turning her head to face Haku. He held her hand as he explained.

"A stink spirit. It was powerful, more so than the one from before." he said. So thats what all this on her was. She got. . .attacked? "But ten times stronger and larger."

He looked away. "Everyone eventually fled and you were still standing there, frozen. It- it attacked you." he sneered at the thought. "You were unconcious for a while. I thought the damage was too-" he broke off and shook his head, giving her hand a squeeze. Just thinking about Chihiro's tiny body getting bulldozed over by that monster was too much.

Chihiro narrowed her eyebrows in complete confusion. Who was this person, and what did he do to sturdy Haku who was never phazed by anything?

"What happened to the spirit?" Chihiro asked worriedly. Was it still in the bath house? What if it came out of nowhere and hurt both of them this time? She didn't even know where they currently were.

Panicked, she tried to sit up, only to have spikes of pain inpale her in the back. She grunted and went limp, about to fall back onto the ground until Haku supported her back. He began to work on seizing the networks of pain pulsing under her skin. She finally rested her back against Haku's shoulder and observed the room.

They were still in the bath house. Or what used to be of it.

The destruction was one of the signs that hinted that a brawl happened between Haku and the spirit while she was out of it. The mucky remnants of the spirits gore was splattered and clinging to walls, rafters, and coated the floorboards. Chihiro felt Haku look away in shame.

"I vowed years ago-when I used to be the spirit of the River-that I would never hurt a living thing again. Whether it be a human or spirit." he muttered softly. "But I lost it."

"But you saved me." Chihiro pointed out.

"Yes, but I could have avoided adding another horrible tragedy to my list." he replied.

Chihiro was quiet for a moment. Their conversationg from earlier resurfaced in her mind. "You know what an important part of being childish is?"

This caught Haku off guard. What was Chihiro onto? He could sense that maturity coming out of her, see that fleck of Wisdom in her eye.

"Being afraid." she said as she turned around to look into Haku's forest green eyes. "You've never felt frightened until now, right?"

She was right. Nothing ever scared him before; he was a fearless dragon spirit. Until Chihiro crossed path's with Danger.

Noticing the realization dawning onto him, Chihiro smiled. "See? So in the end, no matter how old you are or what you lived through, you know what it's like to be a child." she poked him playfully in the shoulder.

Haku let a small smile spread on his face. "Thank you."

* * *

><p><strong>I FINALLY ADDED ANOTHER CHAPTER! This took me quite a while to type up, for some reason xP But I hope you guys thought it was worth the wait! I've also been thinking about ending this. What do you think?<strong>

**Don't forget to leave a review!**

**~Sabby-Sama**


	4. Chapter 4

Spirit-Gazing

"Haku! Haku!" Chihiro shouted as she raced up to the thousands-of-years ancient spirit. Haku turned, only to have the girl whiz past him, a gust of cold air slapping him in the face.

"Chihiro?" he asked, compeltely confused. Chihiro slowed down into a backwards jog to face him.

She waved her hand frantically. "Come on, come on, it's starting already!" And with that she barreled through the spa's exit and raced out across the bridge.

He stood there, his brain slowly processing what Chihiro's words meant. A silent 'oh" was muttered under his breath as he raced after her, almost slamming into a stray spirit in his frantic haste.

Chihiro was hoping in her spot on the green field, surrounded but the nighttime darkness. She stomped her foot and pouted when Haku emerged. Haku stopped to catch his breath and then lowered himself to all fours on the grass.

"Gosh, what took you so long?" she huffed inpatiently. Haku ignored her as he burst into feather and scale. She climbed onto his back and held on tight as he pushed off his hind legs, shooting into the air.

Looking into the endless midnight blue sky, Chihiro 'ooh-ed' and ah-ed'. She showed Haku that he needed to fly faster by yanking on his long whiskers; something he despised. Her teasing was rewarded with a huff of warning from Haku's nostrils. She laughed as they landed onto the buildings rooftop, Haku quickly changing into his human form. He was immedietly and roughly grabbed by his hand and was dragged to the center of the roof. Chihiro plopped down cross-legged, pulling Haku with her.

"Do you have to be so rough, Chihiro?" Haku muttered as he flicked his hair to the side. Chihiro thumped him on the shoulder.

"Shh! Just look!" she whispered as she pointed at the sky.

Sitting back-to-back; Haku sitting up straight while Chihiro was slumped to rest her head on his shoulder, they gazed at the sky.

Haku didn't know what the big deal was. He mentally scolded himself for mentioning the show the sky would put on that night a week before. He didn't go indepth with details, but with the little that he did tell her, her face immediatley took on a dreamy look. Ever since that day Chihiro would go to her room's window at night (and sometimes even day) to watch the sky, just in case it started earlier than planned.

There was really nothing special about it. It was such a common occurrence in the spirit world. It was the process of a spirit's life after death, when they would pass on to another level of existence.

Chihiro was completely silent. Haku couldnt even pick up her breathing with his ears. He carefully moved his head to watch her out of the corner of his eye, trying not to disturb her.

He chuckled softly. Chihiro looked like, well, a child in a candy store. He eyes were wide and unblinking, as if she didn't want to miss a thing. Her mouth formed a small 'o' as she watched the phenomenon in the sky.

Swirls of silver and gold delicately painted the sky, a gorgeous contrast to the backdrop of pitch black. The spirits who took on the shape of stars shot across the sky in the most bizarre colors Chihiro had never seen before on Earth. There were also familiar colors such as magenta, orange, deep crimson and even a pulsating lime green.

Everything in the sky was in a rush, stars tried to outrace other stars, and the swirls spun and oscillated into different shapes and patterns.  
>Suddenly, two stars collided. A mellow 'boom' vibrated through the humid air and rung deep in Chihiro's ears. Sparks that shined like glitter sprayed out from the heavenly bodies. Chihiro gasped, her face getting basked in the illumination.<p>

Unlike Chihiro's fascination with the stars, she was the source of his amusment.

The lights in the sky suddenly fizzled and faded. The world once again became dark and serene.

There was a moment before Chihiro exhaled, rolling everything she just witnessed around in her head and storing the memory forever. "Wow." she said simply. Fireworks seemed like nothing to her now.

"Spirits die. Like humans." Haku explained.

Chihiro furrowed her brows. "Those were spirits?" she asked. "How can spirits die?"

Looking out to the horizon, at the exact spot where the two stars collided, Haku tried to think of a simple answer. "It just happens. There's no reason."

He was afraid Chihiro would be worried for him, Rin, Kamaji. But she wasn't. It seemed to surreal to her, and she was curious. He pointed to the spot in the sky where the collision took place.

"Those two stars were in love." he explained. "Once one spirit died, it's other half went to meet it after waiting so long. To be together forever."

She frowned. "That sounds so sad. I don't know why."

"I suppose, in a way it is. It takes years and _years _for a spirit to die. The other spirit must have waited a long time for it's love. But now they're happy."

It went silent again, this time for much longer.

"Hey."

Haku turned his face to look at Chihiro, who turned herself around to face him. He did the same, his knees touching hers.

"Hm?" Haku questioned

Her face was serious, but her eyes were sparkling

She raised her thumb to her lips, kissed it, and held it out to Haku. "Promise you'll always be right by my side?" she asked.

That came to him as a shock, but he nodded. "Of course, Chihiro."

He copied Chihiro's action and they pressed their thumbs together, forming a promise.


End file.
